Eyes
by mandaree1
Summary: Zak has never been very self-conscious. There's one part of him, however, that he doesn't like. Wadi finds this out on there first date.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Secret Saturdays.**

**Summary: Zak has never been very self-conscious. There's one part of him, however, that he doesn't like. Wadi finds this out on there first date.**

**So... I saw the new Secret Saturday designs. I haven't seen the episode, but I have seen the new designs. And I noticed Zak's eyes. _Orange; _kur. I wondered how Zak might take it, and this popped out. **

**...**

Everyone said he was paranoid. He preferred the term 'self-conscious.'

It wasn't about his looks. Far from it. He liked the way he looked. Sure, he was strange-looking, with his mismatched hair colors and armor, but strange ran in the family! Strange was cool. So no, it wasn't his looks. It wasn't his stature. Small and thin _wasn't_ a bad thing. It was a warriors build, a fighters build, _his build. _(which he pulled off _very _well, by the way) So it wasn't his looks or his physique. It was his eyes.

He used to like them, he really did. Dark orbs that perfectly matched his style. They were like everyone else's, but different. But now they were flashy neon circles that served to remind him of what he'd almost become, of his lingering fears.

He knew why they'd changed. The others_ thought_ they knew why they'd changed. They thought the remnants of Kurs powers had manifested itself into his iris's. It was a pretty good theory, but an incorrect one.

You take away the power, you were still left with the beast. He _was_ Kur, he was and he always would be. However, since he was mostly powerless, he was harmless. But even that had some drawbacks, such as losing his jurisdiction over his species classification.

You heard right. He, Zak Saturday, son to Doc and Drew Saturday and brother to Fisk, Zon, and Komodo Saturday, was part cryptid. And he wasn't very proud of it.

He wasn't sure how _much_ of him was cryptid, he was to scared to check. But he did know that the human in him was much higher in content then the cryptid, and that was plenty enough for him.

And it wasn't like he was against _being_ a cryptid. Cryptids were amazing, strong creatures that'd he'd been fascinated with since a young age. It was that he was a _Kur_ cryptid (whatever species that was; his best estimate was a mix of the ancient dragon cryptids seen in hieroglyphics and... well, he wasn't quite sure yet) that he was ashamed of.

So, when the Cryptid blood 'activated' itself, it started showing in... _strange_ ways. Nails toughening, skin hardening in places it should still be soft (stomach, face, etc), and the pigment of his eyes changing. Black wasn't a normal eye color for lizard cryptids, so the change forced the dominant human genes to become recessive and in turn make the cryptid eye color (orange) dominant. Basically, his genes flipped and the eye pigment changed as a result.

That was his theory, anyway, and probably more accurate. But he wasn't going to tell the others, because that would mean explaining that he _wasn't_ human, and that he'd harbored such information for _years_, and he'd rather not explain. They'd find out someday, jut not anytime soon.

Straightening his tie, he wondered if today (on his first date) he'd finally told Wadi the truth.

He liked Wadi. It was your typical teen romance straight out of the sappy stories he'd despised as a child. Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, guy screws up a lot, girl shakes head at him but agrees to go on a date with him anyway. (_why_, when he'd managed to spill a glass a juice on her clothes while stuttering out the invitation, was a mystery) but there was one small complication: she didn't know about his eyes.

Slipping in the dark contacts, he checked himself over in the mirror. The monkey suit wasn't really his thing, but it'd have to do.

Meeting his date at the door to the restaurant, he allowed himself a brief moment to look her over. She'd gone with causal, so he looked even more like a dork, but she still managed to look prettier than any girl he'd ever seen.

"Hey."

"What's with the monkey suit?"

"What's wrong with it?" He posed, cupping his chin with his fingers shaped into a gun "Don't I look good?"

She snorted "You are such a dork."

"Am not!"

"I beg to differ."

He stuck his tongue out, then blushed. What was he doing? He was on a _date_, not hanging out with Fisk! He coughed, awkwardly fiddling with the tie "So... ready to go in?"

"Born ready." She held out an arm, he took it.

* * *

Dinner finished and set aside, Zak awkwardly held a hand out. "Dance?"

"And I thought the suit was corny." Wadi rolled her eyes, then noted the look in his eyes. "You're serious?"

"Yup." He shuffled his feet. Yeah, the whole date was pretty corny, but the classics never failed, right? It worked for his parents, it might work for him. "I mean, if you wanted too."

She sighed, taking in the mushy music in the background and the couples on the dance floor. He was trying his best to be smooth, she reminded herself, he's just to dorky to do it properly. "Only on one condition." She warned. "Take out those silly contacts."

He stilled completely, jaw dropping slightly. "Huh?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "You didn't think you could honestly keep that from me, did you?"

"Uh, yeah, actually." He scratched the back of his head, mind racing. Who'd told her? He'd made sure to where contacts whenever there was even the _smallest_ chance of him being spotted by _anyone_ outside the family. How could she have found out?

"Your mom showed me some pictures." She admitted, then smirked.

He frowned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Oh, those." He knew those pictures. Birthday pictures, when he'd stepped out of his room with bedhead and sleep heavy in his mind only to find mom energetically taking pictures and singing the birthday song. He'd honestly thought he'd destroyed all of those photos by now, but it seemed to not be the case.

"You looked... good." She snickered. He sighed. "It's okay, you know?"

He shook his head, paused, then nodded. Slowly, he took the contacts out. Keeping his eyes shut a moment, mostly in self-consciousness, he eventually reopened them.

"Alright." She announced softly, grabbing his arm. "Now I'm ready to dance."

Swinging to the beat, He glanced around. People were _staring_. Not at Wadi, not at him, at his _eyes_. It didn't feel like they were staring at eyes or people, but at a monster. A monster left docile in the back of his mind. He hated it.

Closing his eyes, he tucked his head into Wadi's head. He whimpered.

"Zak?" She glanced up. He pulled away.

"I... This was a stupid idea." He shook his head, covering his face. "I'm going to go get my contacts."

She grabbed his arm, pulled it down. "Zak... they're _beautiful_, you hear me? Stop worrying so much."

"I hate being stared at." He admitted, arm twitching. He wanted to cover his face, but Wadi wouldn't let go.

"They don't matter." She walked back into his arms, restarted the dance. He followed along awkwardly, unsure and unsteady. "Stop being so self-conscious." She berated. "You don't mind your eyes, right?"

"Right." He mumbled.

"Then you shouldn't worry what other people think either." She leaned into his shoulders. "If it helps any, I like them."

And it did, it really did. Closing his eyes one last time, he opened them wide and glared back at the stares. They looked away.

He'd never let it bother him again, he swore, smiling. Wadi likes them, and that's all that matters.


End file.
